Mentoring can take many forms, but as it’s often one-to-one, it’s among the most tailored career boosts you can ever give or receive. It’s also fairly easy to get involved, as you can set up your own or tap into existing programmes.
One successful scheme in the industry is run by Women in Travel. Simona Listvanaite, the organisation’s project manager and marketing executive explains: “The most active mentoring programme we have is the allyship. In addition to that, we have mentoring circles; women-led peer groups who come together monthly.”
The allyship programme uses senior male mentors to share experience and open doors. Many mentees are entrepreneurs seeking help with business plans or objectives, while those running tour operators in Africa or Asia look to the programme to forge UK contacts.
A wellness retreat founder who struggled to delegate has been among WIT success stories.
Her mentor helped her create a business plan and identify new recruits, freeing her enough time to achieve B Corp status.
Within larger businesses, women seek WIT’s help progressing “because the glass ceiling is still there,” says Listvanaite, adding they also struggle with ageism and maternity leave inequalities. She stresses the benefits of the Male Allyship work both ways too. “Senior male allies not only mentor but receive that reverse mentoring too, so they can implement better policies across their own company.”
New cohorts start each autumn after a mentor-mentee matchmaking process, based on applications. WIT’s ongoing mentoring circles, meanwhile, match skills to group problems.
“We start the conversation with ‘what are the current challenges?’” Listvanaite explains. “A group might seek better communication or negotiation skills if they’re asking for a salary rise.”
Julie McKenzie, a Designer Travel agent, is looking forward to receiving help from the company’s new business development manager and in the past has paid for mentors she discovered through recommendations.
In group sessions online, her first coach encouraged her to think what she wanted from her career and visualise the lifestyle this would bring. McKenzie says she kept her luxury travel goal in mind, for instance, by scenting her workspace with jasmine. One-to-one sessions then covered her emotional journey.
Currently, McKenzie has marketing mentoring through a Visibility Society membership, which is aimed at solo entrepreneurs and has online group sessions. For about £50 a month, she can improve skills from email management to understanding Instagram algorithms. Switching from wedding planning back to homeworking, she felt she needed a boost.
“Starting off in travel again is hard because your contacts have gone... she’s really good at building my confidence,” she says of her mentor.
So has her outlay been worth it? “Yes, overall,” she says. “It’s good to have my own marketing guru... It’s about running your business these days, not whether you know the three-letter code for Kefalonia.”
For Audley – winner of the TTG Luxury Travel Awards Luxury Travel Workplace of the Year 2024 – mentorship is part of its Insight initiative. Since 2021, the operator has been building relationships with schools, colleges and community hubs, inspiring people from underrepresented communities about opportunities in travel.
Audley runs work placements for university students, who rotate departments and partake in a buddy scheme. “Students are mentored because they’re inexperienced in the office world,” explains Claire Mace, global head of people development. The interns also have time with Audley chairman Richard Prosser and chief executive officer Nick Longman.
Mentors also help with CV writing and some of their graduates progress to Audley’s Rising Stars leadership programme. Currently 50 Audley employees are involved in this apprenticeship, with 78% of them female. Over 14-16 months, coaches support them towards their End Point Assessment resulting in a 100% pass rate so far against a national average of 45%.
Audley’s outreach scheme helps bring new talent and diversity to travel recruitment. Mace adds: “When they leave their studies, they consider us. It makes massive business sense. This is a long journey and we’re just laying the foundations. But we’ve got the bug now!”
